1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of jewelry rings with settings of gemstones that can be interchanged.
2. Prior Art
Rings with gemstones or other attractive settings are often used to accentuate a person's style and complement his/her wardrobe. When viewing rings often a gemstone or other attractive object located at the center of the setting draws the most attention and is seen as matching or conflicting with a person's style and/or wardrobe. Changing a gemstone or other settings pieces in rings often require a trip to the jeweler to assure that the new setting or gemstone located at the center of the ring setting is properly secured and arranged in accordance with the wearer's desires. Often a wearer will find the ring attractive, but may wish to change only the center stone or other attractive piece at the center of the ring.
The jewelry industry has recognized this, and there has been an evolution of some rings with interchangeable settings. For instance, by Estrin, U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,375; by Lambert, U.S. Pat. No. 684,272; by Jenkins, U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,696; by Ellison, 3,568,467; and by Gheblikian, U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,482. The difficulty associated with prior art is that there is some hidden or hard-to-manipulate locking mechanism which must be unlocked and opened before the setting or stone can be replaced. Further, prior art which does not depend on some kind of secure locking mechanism is subject to separation during the movement of the ring as when it is worn or if it is accidentally dropped. Also, none of the prior art devices known to the inventor are capable of replacing a center gemstone prong setting which is surrounded by a main bezel with a fairly large gemstone cluster completely surrounding the centrally located gemstone prong setting.